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Aetna, slavery, and reparations

The Aetna Insurance company made large profits from slavery. They sold life insurance on slaves, loaned money to slave owners to buy slaves, etc. – all while slavery was illegal in their home state of Connecticut.

Aetna admits it happened but says, so what, it was long ago and we’ve reformed now. A typical corporate fog machine, they accept no responsibility and issue bland promises. Yet the profits they (and many other corporations) made on slavery allowed them to become a huge corporation.

BIG’s resolution demands that Aetna create a Trust Fund to benefit slave descendants with a portion of the funds going to assist African American Healthcare Institutions actively working to alleviate the health disparities plaguing African American families and communities. The resolution asks that government employees consider changing their insurers if Aetna fails to create the Trust Fund.